This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video Supports For Aspirations - Diana Clark. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Supports For Aspirations - Diana Clark

The following talk was given by Diana Clark at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on April 22, 2024. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Supports For Aspirations

Good morning. For those of you who don't know me, I teach here on Monday nights and occasionally substitute for Gil here and there.

This morning I want to talk a little bit about what motivates us to practice. What is it that motivates us to come here on a Sunday morning, to have a daily meditation practice, or to listen to Dharma¹ talks on YouTube or AudioDharma? What are our aspirations related to practice?

It can be helpful to reflect on this occasionally, taking some time to think about our motivation. Maybe as I am speaking, you can ask yourself this question: What is the "North Star" that is guiding you or supporting you in practice?

When we align with our aspirations, there is a sense of openness, ease, or well-being. In contrast, when we have a goal that we "have to get," that is often associated with a feeling of tightness, clinging, or leaning forward. An aspiration is something that is more of an uplift—a sense of ease and inspiration.

There is great power available when we are aligned with our aspirations and when the heart is connected with what is important to us—connected to something bigger than just what we are doing at that moment. Not that what we are doing at that moment isn't important, but there is a way in which aligning or connecting matters. So often, the busyness of our lives encourages us to be disconnected from what is important to us. Our lives can feel like one very long to-do list every day. Sometimes we lose sight that there is something bigger possible.

Maybe part of the gift of having a meditation practice, or even coming here and sitting silently before a Dharma talk, is that what is important for us can bubble up. There can be more space for the mind and the heart to touch into what matters.

It might be that our aspiration is for deep well-being, happiness, peace, love, or freedom. Maybe an aspiration is about making this world a better place, being of service, and supporting others so that they can bring their best selves forward. Or maybe there is an aspiration about beauty—wanting to bring beauty into the world, to share it, or to express it. All of us might have our own aspiration with its own particular flavor or expression. It can be helpful to bring that to mind and connect with it.

Then there is the obvious question—or maybe for me, it is obvious—why am I not consistently going in that direction? Why am I finding myself distracted and doing other things? Consistently orienting towards our aspirations is not easy. If it were easy, we would all be doing it and would be completely awakened, having peace, freedom, and beauty already.

So, what makes it difficult, and can we address that so we can consistently move towards what is most important to us?

One factor is that we have created a society that promotes instant gratification. We like to have things right away. How many inventions are about making things faster? Even the gizmos we carry in our pockets are all about making things faster and better. You can get an answer quickly. You can use an Instant Pot and have dinner ready immediately. We expect things to happen quickly.

We also aren't always connecting with our aspirations because we tend to forget. Our society promotes distraction—trying to entertain ourselves, always feel better, or avoid discomfort. There is a lot of discomfort in life, both emotional and physical, so we have a pattern of distracting ourselves. We have these to-do lists, and we forget.

Furthermore, the networks of individuals we interact with, or the industries around us, aren't necessarily oriented towards connecting with what is important to us. Instead, we have institutions designed to convince us to do what they want us to do: buy this, do that, believe this. We can be pushed around by these other forces. It is easy enough to do; I have certainly found myself going down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos, watching the most bizarre things that I have no interest in. The algorithms are powerful.

I would like to talk about applying oneself to a practice that can enable us to stay connected with what is important to us. I will use a story found in the suttas² as a support for this. This story is about Prince Bodhi. The name Bodhi means "Awakening," so he is "Prince Awakening." It is interesting that he is named this because Prince Bodhi wanted to become awakened—I don't blame him; he must have wanted more peace and freedom—but he didn't really want to work at it.

Who can blame him? We all want things to be easier, the path of least resistance, and instant gratification. I find comfort in the fact that thousands of years ago, people were the same. He wanted to become awakened, but he had heard that it was going to be difficult and painful, so he wanted a shortcut.

He thought if he donated a certain property to the Buddha and his monastics where they could practice, this would bring him something that would support his awakening. He thought giving something to the Sangha³ would work. He also had the idea that if he could have the Buddha do something auspicious for him—like some magic thing—then he could become awakened.

Rather than thinking that he himself had a role in his happiness—that he was responsible for connecting with what was important and achieving his deepest aspiration—he was kind of giving that over to the Buddha. He thought a gesture like donating property (which, being a prince, wasn't a hardship for him) would suffice.

Prince Bodhi had the "Pink Lotus Long House" built with the intention to donate it to the Buddha and his monastics. He wanted to invite the Buddha to come to the Pink Lotus Long House for a meal. This was a very common way to support the Sangha, show respect, and hear some teachings after the meal.

Prince Bodhi had delicious food prepared and asked for a white cloth to be spread along the entire floor of the long house, down the stairs, and onto the ground. I think of it as the red carpet treatment.

The Buddha and his monastics went to Prince Bodhi's palace. Prince Bodhi was outside waiting for them, greeted them, paid homage, and invited them to the Pink Lotus Long House. The Buddha stopped right before the white cloth at the bottom of the steps. Prince Bodhi had this idea: If I can get the Buddha to step on this cloth, it will be auspicious, and that will help me.

Seeing the Buddha stop, he said, "Venerable sir, please step on the white cloth. Please step on the white cloth so that it may be for my welfare and happiness for a long time."

The Buddha just stood there. He didn't say anything; he didn't move.

The Buddha has advice regarding shortcuts in general, captured in a short simile in a verse. He says: "As the wagoner who left the highway, a road with an even surface, and entered upon a rugged path, broods mournfully with a broken axle."

The "even surface" represents a road that has been trampled upon by many people; it is a proven path. Leaving that to go upon a rugged path—bushwhacking through new territory—risks breaking the axle. I have certainly had this experience while traveling. My app says there is traffic ahead, so I take an exit to find a shortcut, and it ends up taking longer or I get lost. We often literally go off the highway to try to take a shortcut.

Getting back to the story, Prince Bodhi saw that the Buddha was just standing there, so he repeated himself: "Venerable sir, please step on the white cloth so that it may be for my welfare and happiness for a long time."

The Buddha continued to stand there. I can imagine Prince Bodhi getting a little agitated. He said it a third time.

The Buddha stood there and looked over at Ananda. Ananda was the Buddha's attendant, someone who knew the Buddha well and had a lot of wisdom. I appreciate this so much—Ananda got it. He understood.

Ananda said to Prince Bodhi, "Fold up the cloth, Prince. The Buddha will not step on the white cloth. He has compassion for future generations."

What is not explicitly said here is that Ananda recognized the implications. If the Buddha were to step on the white cloth, Prince Bodhi might say, "Oh, it's so auspicious for me! I'm going to become awakened now because the Buddha did this." The Prince had a platform; he would tell everyone, "All you have to do is step on the white cloth."

Or maybe the opposite would happen—the Buddha steps on the cloth, but then calamity befalls the Prince. The Prince might then say, "Oh, that Buddha person, don't believe him, he is not helpful."

Or perhaps Prince Bodhi would talk about the importance of stepping on a white cloth, encouraging people to look for other auspicious actions or superstitions instead of taking responsibility for their own welfare and happiness. The Buddha didn't want people to always look for external conditions or to make somebody else do something in order for them to align with their aspirations.

I think all of us know this, but maybe there is a piece of us that hopes it isn't so true. This path of practice is one that we all have to walk ourselves. We have to find our own way. The Buddha points the way and shows the way, but we are the ones who actually have to do it, learn by direct experience, and overcome difficulties ourselves.

After the meal, Prince Bodhi turned to the Buddha and said, "Pleasure is only gained through pain."

The Buddha interpreted "pleasure" as ease, peace, freedom, or Awakening. Prince Bodhi had this idea that you have to have a lot of pain to achieve that. In some ways, the modern-day equivalent is the Nike slogan: "No pain, no gain." Thousands of years ago, they were talking about the same thing.

This helps make sense of why the Prince was motivated to have the Buddha do something for him rather than having to do it himself. He didn't want to feel pain. None of us want to feel pain. We can't blame him for asking the Buddha to step on the cloth.

I have my own version of this story. Early in my practice, after sitting a long retreat that was hard—sometimes retreats are fantastic and sometimes they are not—I had a lot of difficulty, tears, confusion, and physical pain. I figured, "Okay, I've paid my dues. This is enough. I'm ready to be awakened."

I remember going to one of the teachers and asking, "Can you like, zap me? Or give me the secret teachings? Because I feel like I've done enough now." I give this teacher a lot of credit; with a lot of warmth, they said, "It doesn't work that way, Diana." [Laughter]

I just felt like maybe I deserved it after all the hard work. Maybe there is a part of us hoping for a shortcut where someone else can do something for us.

In response to the Prince's statement that "pleasure is only gained through pain," the Buddha shared a bit of his own story. He said, "When I was still unawakened but intent on awakening, I also thought that pleasure is only gained through pain."

The Buddha had lived an opulent lifestyle in a palace, then left to strive for awakening. He met with meditation teachers, learned exalted techniques, and reached high meditation states, but realized they were not awakening. So he went to the opposite extreme and practiced austerities, thinking pain must be the way to freedom.

He described his striving: "Seeking the state of supreme peace, I set out to discover what is skillful. Traveling, I came to Senanigama and Uruvela. There I saw a delightful grove, a lovely piece of ground with a clear flowing river, pleasant smooth banks, and nearby was a village for alms."

He thought, "Why don't I, with teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth, squeeze, squash, and crush mind with mind?" He strove as hard as he could, like a strong person grabbing a weaker person by the head and throat. He did this until sweat poured from his armpits.

He said, "My energy was roused up and unflagging, and my mindfulness was established and Lucid, but my body was disturbed and not tranquil because I pushed too hard with that painful striving."

He tried breath-holding meditation and fasting with real intensity, but they did not lead to awakening. He summed it up to Prince Bodhi: "Whatever spiritual adepts have experienced these painful, sharp, severe, acute feelings due to overexertion, no one has done more than me."

We see that making no effort while he was in the palace (like Prince Bodhi) didn't lead to awakening, and making tons of painful effort didn't lead to awakening either. He then described to Prince Bodhi how he did become awakened (which involves the Middle Way), though I won't go into those details now.

Prince Bodhi responded, "Well, how long does it take? If you were my teacher, how long would it take?"

I don't blame him. He wants to know if this is something he has to do for a really long time or if there is a shortcut. The Buddha replied with a question: "Prince, are you skilled in the art of wielding a hooked goad while riding an elephant?"

The Prince said yes. The Buddha asked, "Suppose you were to train a person in wielding a hooked goad while riding an elephant. If that person did not have any confidence, could they achieve what they could achieve if they had confidence?"

"No."

"If that person had no vitality, could they achieve what they could achieve if they did have vitality?"

"No."

"If that person were dishonest and had no integrity?"

"No."

"If that person had no energy?"

"No."

"If that person didn't have any wisdom?"

"No."

The Buddha then listed these Five Factors of Endeavoring: Confidence, Vitality, Integrity, Energy, and Wisdom. With these five factors, one can achieve what they want to achieve.

The Buddha then answered the question about time. He said, "If you have these five factors of endeavoring, someone could become awakened in seven years. Let alone seven years... six years. Let alone six years... five, four, three, two, one year. Let alone one year... seven months, six months... seven weeks... seven days. Let alone two days; a person with these five factors of endeavoring can hear the instructions in the morning and become awakened that evening."

It is inspiring. I will unpack these five factors briefly. "Endeavoring" here means applying oneself, working towards, or seeking with diligence. These factors take into account all aspects of our lives, not just our expertise with meditation or how much we know of the suttas.

1. Confidence (Saddhā): This is confidence that this is something worth doing, and confidence that it is possible—possible for humans to have greater peace and ease, and possible for you to move in that direction. Sometimes we project too far into the future and think, "I can't achieve that." We forget that the version of ourselves that takes the final step is not the same version we are today. When we take a step, we change. All you need is the confidence to take the next step.
2. Vitality (Appābādhatā): Sometimes you might feel you don't have enough energy for such a big aspiration. This factor points to just the amount of vitality required to, for example, listen to a Dharma talk. That is all. It is about the heart and the mind. Listening to talks or reading books can bring inspiration, openness, or uplift. A lot of people come to practice because they are ill or feel despair; this practice is for you too. You don't need perfect health, just enough energy to engage the mind.
3. Integrity/Honesty (Asaṭha): This is about acknowledging what is really going on with you. If you have a teacher, share what is really going on. Sometimes we want the teacher to like us or think we are good students, so we skip over the parts where we aren't doing so great. That is okay, but you are shortchanging yourself. Integrity is showing up and sharing both the struggles and the wins—being authentic about how you are doing with your practice.
4. Energy (Viriya): This is related to Right Effort in the Eightfold Path. It is just the amount of energy required to recognize, "This is helpful, this supports movement towards my aspiration," or "This is not helpful."
5. Wisdom (Paññā): Part of wisdom is recognizing that things change. Of course they change, but we need to see that in a deep way—there are no exceptions. Everything changes. Having this wisdom allows developments to happen and things to shift; we don't have to cling to them or insist they be different. They will change on their own time frame.

These Five Factors of Endeavoring support us in connecting with and moving towards our aspirations. We all have these. If you are here, you have them. If you are listening to this, you have them.

I like to think that Prince Bodhi undertook this and became awakened. The suttas don't say whether he became awakened—maybe being a prince he thought, "Oh no, I'll go try some other spiritual teacher." But may you all reach your aspirations.

Thank you.